Champions of Childhood

A Champion of Childhood is someone with a childlike spirit who rallies against rules that don’t exist while engaging in ruthless, senseless acts of silliness that undermine the slavery of Adultitis and its unadventurous version of adulthood. We like shining a light upon the most remarkable among us, holding them up as a dazzling example of what we should strive for in this epic battle against Adultitis.

There is an Awesome Room in the offices of the Corporate Training & Economic Development department at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. It’s more of a cubicle than a room, but still. It was the first time I ever thought happy things about a cubicle.
It was created as part of a renovation that took place last year. Dean Stewart, the dean of the department, wanted to get everyone involved in the process. And so the team was empowered to come up with names for some of the extra common areas and conference rooms around the office. And so Awesome Room was born.
I spoke at a Business Success Summit at the college last week, and evidence of fun and collaboration is everywhere. There is the Twins Board, a humble bulletin board that contains photos of people who inadvertently came to work to wearing something similar to a co-worker. And the lobby is adored with art that was created by the entire team, with assistance of the nearby Artisan Center. The bright, welcoming collages even …

It can be easy to think of country clubs as the sort of places where Adultitis might like to hang out. Granted, it’s not a windowless cube farm, but it can invite a particular strain of Adultitis that implores us to take ourselves a little too seriously and make sure we don’t get our princess dress wet.
But Chef Brian at the Rockford Country Club is a Champion of Childhood who’s keeping Adultitis on its toes. In celebration of back to school season, Brian created a menu that put some epicurean twists on old childhood favorites, a “culinary homage to cafeteria classics.” Here are some of the things he came up with:
A beautiful, creamy, scratch-made grilled cheese & tomato soup with a grilled cheese crouton.
A salad with bacon, pistachios and cranberry Jell-O croutons. (Yup, you read that right: Jell-O croutons!)
Thai PB and J pork chop with jasmine rice and vegetable spring roll.
Lobster mac & cheese. (Eat it, Kraft.)
“Fish sticks” featuring Chilean sea bass, …

I spend a lot of time in airports. Airports are like kids. They can be a CAUSE of Adultitis or they can be a CURE for Adultitis.
It all depends on your approach.
Sara Alvarado LOVES airports. She gets a kick out of watching all the people with Adultitis freak out over stuff that in the grand scheme of things, don't really matter. On a recent visit to the Denver Airport, Sara and her son Leo bought some silly putty and did a little redecorating to some advertisements hanging on the wall.
It doesn't take much to ground Adultitis. Lucky for us, we have people like Sara to show us how easy (and fun) it can be.
A Champion of Childhood is someone instilled with the soaring spirit of childhood who rallies against rules that don't exist while engaging in ruthless, senseless acts of silliness that undermine the slavery of Adultitis and its unadventurous version of adulthood. We like shining a light upon the most remarkable among us, holding them up as a dazzling example of what …

An organization I spoke to last year traditionally celebrates the holidays with a luncheon and gift exchange. Pretty typical stuff.
The only problem is that Adultitis LOVES typical. Typical is only a hop, skip and a jump away from a rut, and as Ellen Glasgow says, “The only difference between a rut and a grave is their dimensions.”
Fortunately, after hearing one of my programs on Curing Adultitis, Janet Mincks and her team decided to go in a different direction with their holiday party.
It has been 4 months since you spoke to us at our All Staff Professional Development Day. What an impact you have made...We decided to throw away the traditional luncheon routine and make it not only interesting but fun. We exchanged names, however the gift was a small $10.00 gift, but needed to be "Ugly Wrapped". The presentation of the gifts ranged from a collection of scrap wrapping paper, bubble wrap, and my favorite, a coffee container with small deer antlers on the top as a bow with dryer …

[ This is a guest post from a woman from Wisconsin. We've left out her name to respect her privacy, but she graciously gave us permission to post this because we think it's very awesome and downright inspiring She's a true Champion of Childhood. ]
I haven’t worn a Halloween costume in years, but decided to change that for 2013. After 10 years of a tumultuous relationship (8 years of which we were married), I filed for divorce in May and have been riding the “rollercoaster of emotions” since, working through all the heartache and also adjusting to “sharing” our 4-year old daughter.
Thanks to my wonderful support system of family and friends – as well as private counseling - I realized that due to all the stress I had to handle in the relationship all those years (as well as my husband’s consistently bitter and negative attitude on life and society), I had lost a great deal of the optimistic and jovial spirit that so many of them treasured as my best personality feature.
So, …

A few years ago, I spoke at a school in Wisconsin, giving presentations for the staff and the parents. I shared the Ugly Cookie story, just like I (almost) always do. Lots of people have heard that story over the years.
But Pete Hirt, the principal of the school, took it and ran with it.
Not long after my talk, a parent of one of the students was diagnosed with cancer. Pete and the community sprang into action to help raise money for the family. Pete suggested they do an "Ugly Cake Auction," in which people would be invited to decorate cakes in the ugliest manner possible. About 1,000 people descended upon the gym to bid on dozens of deliciously ugly cakes.
They raised $15,000.
Last night, I was invited back to be a part of an evening designed to Celebrate Family. I would again be speaking to the staff and parents, but also added to the agenda was a Barbarian Spaghetti dinner and an Ugly Cookie decorating contest. The goal was to give parents tips and ideas for stressing …

People with Adultitis are often embarrassed by people without it. It makes them uncomfortable. They worry about what the behavior of the "Adultitis-free" people will say about them.
Of course, there is one demographic of people that typically suffers from very little Adultitis. We call them children.
If we let them, kids can help us treat the Adultitis within us.
But if we're not careful, we can also inflict our Adultitis upon them.
It's easy for parents (and teachers) to use their authority to shut down the behavior our children engage in; behavior that is completely innocent, other than calling out the Adultitis within us.
When we curb the behavior of children solely because we are embarrassed by what the kids are wearing, playing with, or are interested in, we are succumbing to Adultitis big-time.
We don't have to, of course.
We wanted to celebrate one mom who refused to allow Adultitis to dictate her parenting. Here's Connie's story, in her own words:
While …

Besty McCleary is a good mom. She stopped by the Earl May so her kids could ride a horse around the parking lot.
Then she figured she'd "kick Adultitis to the curb" and asked to join in. She may have been the only adult who did all day.
Which also makes her a Champion of Childhood.
When you're with a kid, you pretty much have carte blanche to let your inhibitions go and join them in their carefree adventures. They are pint-sized permission granters. It's a pity that parents (and grandparents and aunts and uncles) don't grab that opportunity by the reins every single chance they get.
Betsy, for one, is proud she did. We are too!
A Champion of Childhood is someone instilled with the soaring spirit of childhood who rallies against rules that don't exist while engaging in ruthless, senseless acts of silliness that undermine the slavery of Adultitis and its unadventurous version of adulthood. We like shining a light upon the most remarkable among us, holding them up as a …

One day this past summer, Marcia Brown took her mom, aunt and great aunt out to lunch to celebrate her aunt's birthday. As they all sat down to eat, she announced, "Today, we are eating dessert first!"
The dinner guests were hesitant. But, after a bit of "encouragement," everyone ended up complying (and having a ball).
Marcia's great aunt called the next day and told her she had more fun that day than she'd had in a very, very long time…and was still smiling.
This stressed-out, burned-out world is in which we live is aching for silliness. Most of them time, people are just waiting for someone to give them permission to have fun.
Sometimes they are waiting for someone to force them to eat desert first.
A Champion of Childhood is someone instilled with the soaring spirit of childhood who rallies against rules that don't exist while engaging in ruthless, senseless acts of silliness that undermine the slavery of Adultitis and its unadventurous version of adulthood. We …

I have never been a pharmacist. I don't even play one on TV. But I can't imagine a pharmacy inherently being a work environment filled with laughs and good times.
But that doesn't mean it couldn't use it.
Here is an email we got from Dan Drella, who initiated a small rebellion with his kids.
"I was in Walgreens with sons Brody (6) and Xavier (7). We were walking from photo to the back of the store. Xavier said, "What are we doing now?" My answer was, "Dance party!" Boom, right there in the aisle. All three of us dancing. Brody was all over it. Xavier said, "No, really, what are we doing now?" My reply: "Dance party!" More dancing ensued. "No seriously dad, what are we doing now?" Again..."Dance party!!!" Brody was just laughing. Five times from photo to the pharmacy. When we got to the pharmacy, the pharmacist and assistant were just laughing. They must have been watching the cameras or something. It was a pretty awesome moment of escaping adulthood. Gosh, I need more of …

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